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Wednesday, October 28, 2009 |
In this issue: |
Premier’s Award of Excellence 2009On October 7, 2009, a project team from Alberta Education’s School Technology Branch was presented with a Premier’s Award of Excellence. The Elevate 2008: Reaching New Heights in Videoconferencing project team received a Bronze award for its work in planning and hosting Elevate 2008, an international conference that connected experts in the videoconferencing field and showcased Alberta’s success in implementing the use of videoconferencing in the K-12 education system.
Elevate 2008 was attended by over 300 members of the educational technology community from Alberta, other Canadian provinces and around the world. The four-day event featured 18 live videoconferences, workshops and keynote speakers. The high proportion of delegates from Alberta suggests that the knowledge shared at the conference will be used within Alberta’s education system.
Since 1995, the Premier has presented awards annually to promote and recognize superior client service and business practices in the Alberta public service. The award serves as a standard of achievement, and a guide to business excellence practices. A complete list of 2009 Premier’s Award of Excellence award winners is available online.
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Videoconferencing UpdateChanges to SuperNet Videoconferencing Help Desk Service Alberta has implemented changes to the hours of coverage and scope of support offered by the SuperNet Videoconferencing Help Desk. The changes will affect the hours of operation, conference call monitoring, new site set up and testing, and after hours support. The changes are being made as part of an overall cost improvement initiative in Service Alberta, and all SuperNet Videoconferencing Help Desk users will be affected by these changes.
If you have any concerns about the changes, please contact the Service Alberta SuperNet Videoconferencing Service Desk at 780-644-7682. >> More information on the specific changes are available here.
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Microsoft Canada Innovative Teacher Leadership AwardAn Alberta project involving five classrooms in Palliser Regional School Division has been selected as a Canadian finalist in the Microsoft Canada Innovative Teacher Leadership Award program. The group consists of classrooms in the Palliser School District, three in Coalhurst Elementary that are involved in the Emerge One-to-One Laptop Learning Initiative, one in Picture Butte and one in Arrowwood.
One of the participating teachers will travel to the Innovative Teachers Forum in Salvador, Brazil in November to represent the group, along with twelve other Canadian finalists. This event will celebrate the regional Innovative Teacher Leadership Program winners from around the world and awards honours to the top innovators. This invitation-only forum allows educators to share their experience with 21st Century teaching and learning, and is expected to host delegates from almost 50 countries.
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Inspiring Education UpdateAt the October 18 – 20 Inspiring Education fall forum, approximately 1,000 Albertans listened to inspirational speakers Daniel Pink, Dr. Mark Milliron, Dr. Jennifer James and Dr. Indira Samarasekera as they shared their perspectives on education and the future. A panel discussion on education and the economy also took place. In a roundtable setting, participants discussed the qualities and abilities needed by an educated Albertan in 2029 and provided input to policy and governance themes. Outcomes from the forum and spring community engagement activities will help to inform development of a policy and governance framework and revisions to the School Act. The framework, being developed by the Steering Committee, is scheduled to be presented to Minister Hancock early in the new year. To learn more about the Fall Forum, view Dr. Mark Milliron’s presentation, access links to the speakers’ websites or view information from previous events, check out the Inspiring Education website.
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Alberta Education Annual Report ReleasedOn September 30, 2009, Alberta Education released its annual report for 2008/2009. The report contains performance measure results and information on the ministry’s accomplishments and financial statements for 2008/2009. The report and highlights brochure are available online. For the first time, the report includes results for self-identified First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students and for students in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs. A CD-ROM version of the document also contains other materials related to accountability in Alberta’s Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system, including the October 2009 Provincial Accountability Pillar report. Copies of the CD and the highlights brochure will be distributed to all school jurisdictions and schools.
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ResearchAlberta Education’s School Technology Branch is continually monitoring research on best practices in the use of technology for teaching and learning. Research articles or reports from outside sources that may be pertinent to the work of tech.news subscribers will occasionally be included in this newsletter. The information in the articles or reports does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Alberta Education. How Teens Use Media – June 2009 A Nielsen report on the myths and realities of teen media trends. A Survey of K-12 Educators on Social Networking and Content-Sharing Tools – October 2009 A survey that looks at the attitudes, perceptions and utilization of social networking websites and content-sharing tools by teachers, principals and school librarians. >> Click here for more information and links to the research articles.
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Upcoming Events
These events are open to Jurisdiction Technology Contacts and invited guests only: November 23, 2009 – Fantasyland Hotel, Edmonton Registration is open. JTCs and invited guests have received an e-mail inviting them to attend with instructions on how to register. Any questions regarding this event can be sent to Wendy Nero at Wendy.Nero@gov.ab.ca. May 19, 2010 – Mount Royal University, Calgary
Alberta Technology Leaders in Education (ATLE) is holding its annual conference, Digital Citizenship in the 21st Century, at the Capri Centre in Red Deer on December 2 to 4, 2009. The keynote speakers and session presenters are listed in the Program at a Glance. The conference will include vendors who will be showing the newest in technology, entertainment and prizes. For further information, contact Gail Young at YoungG@lrsd.ab.ca, by phone at 403-625-3356 or visit the ATLE website.
>> For information on the 2Learn.ca Academy session topics, click here.
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Tools4Teachers UpdatesDistributed Learning resources for the following courses have recently been posted to the Tools4Teachers site:
The Tools4Teachers website can be accessed at http://www.tools4teachers.ca/. Pre-existing user names and passwords have been removed from the system as of September 30, 2009. New secure login and password access information for Tools4Teachers has been distributed to all Alberta schools. If you require access to Tools4Teachers, contact your school administrator. For more information, contact Lori Ristoff at Lori.Ristoff@gov.ab.ca or by phone at 780-674-8719.
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Vol. 9 No. 3Tech.News is an electronic newsletter for Alberta's education community. It is produced by Alberta Education, School Technology Branch. Send your questions, suggestions, or article submissions to tech.news@gov.ab.ca. Next edition: November 2009 LINKS: Alberta Education - Technology section Emerge One-to-One Laptop Learning Technology and High School Success Supporting Innovative Classrooms LearnAlberta.ca
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